When a meeting of the alumni of the Government Boys’ High School, Karamana, was held this Sunday, there were just six alumni present. With little possibility of a turnaround in sight, there was very little meaningful discussion at the meeting.
This was once a mixed school which, in its heyday, had student strength of 2,000 spread across classes 5 to 10. The school was bifurcated into separate schools for girls and boys in 1974. Together, the two schools now have a 5-acre campus, but the boy’s high school has only 320 students.
“Parents prefer to send their children to private schools, though we in this government school are more educated and better qualified than private school teachers,” said K.S. Vinayan, Headmaster.
Gautham Nair, an alumnus of the school said, “About 10 years ago, government schools were the most preferred ones. Now it seems like government schools will come to an end in a few years.” His prediction appears very likely to become true in the case of the Government Boys’ High School, Karamana, because it cannot hope for an improvement in its infrastructure without sufficient number of students and there is no possibility of it getting more students as it does not have the kind of infrastructure and facilities that private schools offer.
The school has been waiting eagerly for a good science lab and a library, but there is little sign of either of these materialising soon. The school has also been asking for at least one smart class for long now, but in vain. “We are trying our best to give the best education to our students, but we need support from the authorities if this school, like many other in the State, is not to close down,” Mr. Vinayan said.
